Socio-educational interventions
with adolescents human trafficking
victims
Serena Cotic
Caritas of Rome In Collaboration with:
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Arrivals in 2018
Spain:
• 65,400 people
• 7,194 under 18
• 5,500 UAMs
Italy:
• 23,400 people
• 4,212 under 18
• 3,536 UAMs
Greece:
• 50,500 people
• 18,685 under 18
• 1,922 UAMs
Criminal organizations linked to prostitution, begging,
child labour or drug pushing exploit many UAMs.
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Caritas of Rome manages five different educational communities for boys and
girls, aged between 14 and 18; many of these are UAMs.
They often tell about difficult life and hard travel conditions, especially the
ones coming from Africa.
These experiences cause a series of traumas,
with repercussions on psychophysical
development.
Educators observe aggressive behaviours, food
problems, psychosomatic symptoms, self-harm,
low frustration tolerance.
UAMs
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The educational team began to develop a specific methodology using
the reference framework of Liotti and collaborators about Interpersonal
Motivational Systems (IMSs).
The aggressive behaviour was the most frequent
problem in our communities in 2016.
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• the limbic level includes IMSs that regulate social behaviours:
attachment, caregiving, rank, sexuality, peer cooperation;
• the prefrontal cortex level is the system of inter-subjectivity and
regulates underlying systems.
• the reptilian level regulates physiologic functions,
environmental exploration and defence;
Authors describe the evolution of human brain into
three levels:
Authors describe the evolution of human brain into
three levels:
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The victims of serious and repeated traumas in childhood and adolescence
often show the prefrontal cortex level inhibited by the constant perception of
danger, even when there is not a real danger.
Methodological suggestions
• not to try negotiation and verbal
communication;
• avoid the physical contact (hugs, pats on the
shoulder, caresses);
• wait and postpone any intervention, in orderto make the house and other people safe.
During an episode of anger or violence it is important:
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• the setting of the environment, in which boys and girls know that the
adults take care of their primary needs. In this way, they can feel
free to explore the outside and try new, healthy experiences.
• the predictability of the system (the
integration of routines in community life).
Methodological suggestionsTo prevent the episode, it is important:
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• attachment system (privilege affectivity);
• rank system (no judgement, preserve the affective
relationship, rule book with sanctions);
• peer cooperative system (boys and girls are involved
in decisional processes).
Methodological suggestions
Aggressiveness can connect to the anger for an
objective that one does not succeed in reaching,
concerning to the IMSs described, in particular:
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• adults have the task to highlight firmly the intolerance
towards these behaviours;
• all boys and girls can reach the consciousness of what
happened, develop a shared story and find an act of repair
towards the whole community;
• educators should plan some laboratory moments.
Methodological suggestions
After an episode of anger and violence:
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In 2016 there were 23 episodes of aggressive
behaviours towards educators or other
adolescents.
In 2018 there were 2 episode.
This methodology has been tested in Domus
Nostra community of Caritas of Rome, since
2017.
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